Boko Haram, Not Bandits, Abducted Greenfield University Students – Gumi

• “The infiltration is already taking place” – Gumi

Ahmad Gumi, a prominent Islamic cleric, says those behind the abduction of students of Greenfield University, Kaduna, are Boko Haram insurgents and not bandit.

Recall that unspecified number of students were abducted on April 18 when gunmen attacked the tertiary institution.

Five of the students have been by the gunmen and they have threatened to kill 17 of them still in captivity if a ransom of N100 million and 10 motorcycles are not delivered to them.

Commenting on the issue when he featured on Africa Independent Television (AIT) on Tuesday, Gumi said terrorists elements have infiltrated the ranks of bandits herders.

He said the infiltration of the bandits by Boko Haram had worsened the situation.

“Now, we have two groups of bandits. We have the ordinary Fulani ethnic herdsmen and now there is another element which is coming in, it is the terrorist, the religious idealogues and this is what I’ve been fearing,” he said.

“The issue is getting compounded because this element is coming in; Boko Haram is coming into the scene now. They are the ones that captured Greenfield students. It is not a question of sleeping. You have to act very fast.

“The infiltration is already taking place but it is not as deep and we want these herdsmen to be protected against the invasion of these terrorists.

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“And the leader is from Jalingo. He is from Adamawa. He is not the local Fulani we have here. So this means that the north-eastern element is coming into this area and we have to move fast. We don’t have that luxury of time”

Gumi said he had been making attempts to make the government see the dangers ahead but he had been treated with scant regard.

“I have been trying to speak with the government but nobody is really trying to listen to me or speak with me on this issue.”

Asked if he has shared the intelligence he gathered on the whereabouts of the students with security agencies, Gumi said: “Everybody knows where they are. The parents know where they are. The point is that the students are in danger, any firing will kill 19 students and that’s why there is caution.”